Man in Custody Battle Shot to Death

GEOFF MULVIHILL

Published
7:00 pm CDT, Thursday, September 26, 2002

Associated Press Writer

MAPLE SHADE, N.J. (AP) _ A man involved in a bitter custody dispute with a member of the radical Philadelphia-based group MOVE was found shot to death early Friday, the same day he was scheduled to visit his son, law enforcement sources said.

John Gilbride's body was found in a car outside his apartment complex, several law enforcement sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Gilbride, a 34-year-old airline employee, had been fighting for custody of his son John Zachary Gilbride, who lived in Cherry Hill with his mother, Alberta Africa, a MOVE member.

After a Philadelphia judge decided earlier this year that Gilbride should have unsupervised time with the 6-year-old, MOVE vowed to fight the order and boarded up windows at its Philadelphia headquaters.

Gilbride was to have his first unsupervised weekend with his son last week, but police say he was out of town and didn't pick the boy up. The same day, MOVE members held a rally at the Cherry Hill municipal building protesting the custody order. They said the judge's order was an attempt to persecute the group and that Cherry Hill police were helping.

Under the custody order, Gilbride was to visit the boy on Friday.

Sgt. Jack Smith, a spokesman for the Burlington County Prosecutor's office, confirmed that a man was found dead, but he said he could not release the name until family members were notified.

The body was discovered in a vehicle parked outside the Ryan's Run apartment complex on King's Highway, Smith said. Neighbors said Gilbride lived in the complex.

Ramona Africa, a MOVE spokesman, said the last time anyone in her group had contact with Gilbride was Sept. 13.

The anarchist group gained notoriety in the 1970s and 80s after high-profile clashes with Philadelphia police. The group shunned modern conveniences, preached equal rights for animals and rejected government authority. Members dropped their surnames and took the last name Africa.

A 1985 clash between the group and police left 11 people dead and 61 homes burned after city authorities dropped a bomb from a helicopter.

In the decades since then, the group has largely kept a low profile. But with the custody dispute, the group began boarding up their headquarters windows again last week, fearing another possible showdown with authorities. The name MOVE does not stand for anything in particular.

Philadelphia Police Capt. Bill Fisher, the head of the department's civil affairs division who knows the MOVE leaders well, said he doesn't believe the custody dispute had any relation to the killing.

"I knew there was a lot of rhetoric and everything else, but keep it in perspective, it's a child custody thing," Fisher said.

Alberta Africa and John Gilbride married in 1992, and divorced about two years ago, said Linda Byrne, a paralegal who worked on the custody case for Gilbride.

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said Gilbride had worked for the airline since the early 1990s, most recently supervising ramp activity at Philadelphia International Airport.

Gilbride's parents, John and Fran Gilbride of Virginia, are apparently on their way to New Jersey, according to lawyer Lee Schwartz, who represented their grandparental rights during the custody dispute.

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AP reporter Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.